


scene 5: they fell (sugar gay version)

by CloudBeets



Category: Tiny Meat Gang (Band)
Genre: Almost Maine, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Sort of AU, and it could be seen as mean but i promise i love them, i do mention kelsey and aleena, i guess, i just needed two girls for the story, inspired by the play, its real cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 01:16:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18906556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudBeets/pseuds/CloudBeets
Summary: [ He takes another deep breath and laughs. “Noel, man, I think I just fell in love with you.” ]Cody and Noel are hanging out, when Cody has a revelation. Noel doesn't know how to deal.





	scene 5: they fell (sugar gay version)

**Author's Note:**

> This story was heavily inspired by scene 5 of the play Almost, Maine by John Cariani, so the plot is not original, but is any story truly?  
> You can find a pdf of the script pretty easily from google if you want to see the original. 
> 
> If you see any spelling or grammar mistakes (or have any advice) please let me know . :)
> 
> {i think we all have braincells here but pls dont show this to them}

“I believe you, ok, I’m just saying…”

Noel reaches over to grab another slice of pizza off the table and leans back in his seat as he takes a bite. “It was bad, Cody. Real bad.” He glances in Cody’s direction as the blond continues his protest.

“I’m sure it was, but-”

Noel looks Cody in the eye as he cuts him off. “Dude, listen to me. It was bad!” 

“Hey!” Cody smacks him in the shoulder with his beer. “You’re the one who’s not listening, ‘cause-”

Noel shakes his head, barely listening to Cody .“So, so bad” he reminisces before taking a sip of his own beer and stretching his arms up onto the back of the sofa, getting comfortable. “The kind of bad that fucking, goes down in history or something.”

“I’m trying to tell you,” Cody exclaims, a hint of genuine frustration in his voice, “that I had a pretty fucking bad time too!” Noel rolls his eyes at Cody frown.

“No…… there’s no way it could have been worse than mine.” 

“It was pretty shit!” Cody says a with a little more force and Noel figures he might as well hear him out. 

“Ok then, “ Noel tips his beer in Cody direction. “Spill”

“Well, she, umm, “ he pauses, looking down, and Noel tilts his head, watching him. Cody takes a breath and spits it out, mumbling. “She said she didn’t like the way I smelled”

“What?”

“Kelsey said she didn’t like the way I smelled,” Cody sighs, “never has.” 

“ _Kelsey,_ ” Noel asks, eyebrow raised, “told you she didn’t like-”

“The way I smelled. Yeah.” 

“When?” Cody looks up, meeting Noel’s inquiring gaze. 

“When I picked her up! She got in my car, and we’re backing out of the parking spot when suddenly she starts fucking… hyperventilating or something! So she asks me to wait, and she says she very sorry but she can’t go out with me because she didn’t like the way I smelled, never had!” 

“What?” Noel can’t believe this, that someone would say that, to Cody of all people. He looks over at Cody and his friend's expression is dead serious. Cody takes a sip of his beer before continuing.

“She _said_ she thought she could overlook it, ya know, but that wasn’t going to be possible! And she gets out of the car, slams the door on me, and just fucking leaves me sitting there, in the parking lot outside her apartment.” Cody sounds angry, but Noel can tell he’s really hurt. 

“Well, she sucks.”

“Yeah.” Cody nods in agreement and looks back down at the floor, biting his lip.

“Hey, dude,” Noel puts his hand on Cody’s shoulder, leaning down to look him in the eye, “I don’t mind the way you smell” 

“Thanks,” There’s a pause, and it’s not quite awkward but Noel can feel that anxiety of saying something wrong starting to surface when Cody sits up, smirking, “Told you it was bad!” Noel shrugs. 

“More than bad man, that’s sad.” He pats Cody’s shoulder comfortingly, before resting his arm on the sofa behind Cody. 

“Yeah,” Cody sighs and takes a sip of his beer. Then his face lights up in a smile. “So, I’m the big winner tonight huh? I get to pick tomorrow!” He elbows in the side Noel and doesn't wait for him to agree before continuing. “We’re gonna go to that restaurant downtown, ya know the one with the really good chicken, and then we’re gonna go over to your place, get drunk, write some bars or something, it’ll be great!” He’s smiling at Noel, and honestly, he looks so happy that Noel feels a little bad he’s gonna completely crush Cody’s victory. 

“Now, I didn’t say you were the big winner.” 

“What?” Noel takes a slow sip of his beer before continuing for the sake of being dramatic. 

“Did I say you’re the big winner?”

“No, but-” Noel cuts off Cody’s protest.

“No. Your story was pretty shit, but you didn’t win.” Cody blinks at Noel with disbelief and leans back into the sofa.

“There’s no way- You can’t beat-”

“Yep.”

“Ok then, what happened?” Cody’s looking at Noel with wide eyes, and Noel can tell that he really doesn't believe anything can top being told you smell bad. Which, Noel must admit, fucking sucks. But his story is definitely worse. He sits up and takes a deep breath before carefully saying:

“Her face broke.” Cody immediately sits up.

“What!”

“Her. Face. Broke.” Cody just stares at him, slack-jawed and Noel is sure he can see the wheels turning in his head. 

“Her- her-”

“Yeah. I get my one good chance with Aleena and her fucking face broke.” Noel takes a sip of his beer and lets Cody take in how truly bad it was. “Told you it was bad.” Cody keeps staring, mouth hanging open. Noel is tempted to reach over and close it for him.

“How did her face break?” Oh, now he’s got it.

“While we were dancing.”

“Wait like, at the club or…” Cody trails off, clearly confused.

“No, she wanted to take like, a slow dancing class or some romantic shit so that’s what we did. We learned how to go that thing where you throw a girl up and over your shoulder, and not to flex but, I’ve been working out and she’s really fucking light so I threw her… _over_ over” Noel pauses, waiting for Cody to connect the dots. When he does, he audibly gasps. 

" _Over_ over?”

“Yep. she landed on her face. And it broke,” Noel states matter of factly. At this point, he’s just accepted his disaster of a date. Cody, however, appears to be very distressed. 

“Shit man, what did you do?”

“Called an uber to take us to the emergency room.” 

“An uber?!”

“Dude, I don’t want to pay for an ambulance.” Cody nods, because of course that makes sense. Hospital shit is really fucking expensive, and Noel really didn’t want to make Aleena pay for it either. There’s a moment of silence and Noel laughs. “She had me call her friend to come get her. He told me to ‘please leave’”

“Oh my god dude,” Cody chuckles, “that’s pretty bad.”

“Yeah” Noel laughs, and they both just sit there for a moment. 

“And kinda sad” 

“Yeah.” Noel sighs, looking down at the rug. As much as he’d like to think he could just move on from a fuckup like that, he really can’t. Losing a chance like that hurts a lot more than he’d like to admit. He looks back at Cody and he raises his beer in Noel’s direction.

“Cheers to awful dates?” 

“Cheers to awful dates.” They clink their bottles and Cody downs the rest of his beer. 

“So… you’re the winner huh?” 

“Hell yeah I am!” Noel says, sitting up a little straighter. 

“Honestly, I think you're the big winner of all time dude. Breaking a girl's face? I don’t think we can top that.” 

“Man I don’t want to think what would be worse than that.” Cody sits there for a second before Noel can see his whole body cringe at whatever horrible date he’s thought up. 

“Oh, dude I don’t want to think about that! Let’s talk about something else before I imagine something too awful. What do you wanna do tomorrow?” Huh. Noel has to think for a moment. He knew he was gonna win, but he never actually thought about what he wanted to do for his prize. Funny how that always happens.

“Ok, first we should go to that restaurant downtown you like, with the really good chicken. Then, we can…” Noel pauses to think before lighting up. “Go to my place, get drunk and write some bars?” 

“Sounds good!” Noel downs the rest of his beer and is just about to go grab some more from the kitchen when Cody sighs. Noel looks over to see him staring down at the carpet, biting his lip and messing with the rim of his empty bottle. 

“Hey, man, you ok?” Cody looks back at Noel and he just looks so defeated.

“I… I don’t know man. Sometimes I don’t even know why I fucking go on these stupid dates. God, Noel, I don’t like it! I hate it man. I really fucking do! Why should I waste my night on some girl I don’t even really know if I like when I could hang out with you! With someone I _know_ I like.” Cody leans back on the sofa with a huff.

Noel doesn't really know how to respond to that. Cody hates going on dates? He’d rather spend time with Noel than a girl he could fuck or fall in love with? Really? He opens his mouth to say something when Cody cuts him off. 

“Sorry. It just sucked tonight, ya know? And in the middle of Kelsey telling me how she didn't like the way I smelled I just got sad-” Noel puts his hand on Cody’s should, gently rubbing it. 

“Hey, man…”

“‘Cause, honestly, there’s not a lot of things that really make me happy or that make sense in my life right now and I got really fucking scared ok, because there’s gotta be something right? Or what's the point?” 

And Noel gets that. He really does. He understands the anxiety of never finding something that makes sense and losing the will to live because what's the point if you’re not having a good time anymore? He wants to tell Cody this, but he’s not sure how to without bringing the mood down more when Cody cuts off his thoughts.

“But, then I thought about it and I realized there is something that really makes sense! Something in my life that always makes me happy and it’s you! It’s always been you.” Cody looks at Noel and he gasps, jerking away from him. He clasps a hand over his mouth, staring at Noel with wide eyes. 

What the fuck. What did Cody just say? That… that… _Noel_ is the- No. He doesn’t even want to think about the implications of that. For a second he considers making a ‘sugar gay’ joke but he thinks that’s a little too close to the truth. And Noel doesn’t want to think about that. He stands up. 

“Well, um, I should probably start heading home…” Noel awkwardly starts to shuffle around the table, grabbing his empty bottle to throw away. Cody blinks at him, then shakes his head.

“Oh, yeah ok”

“‘Cause I’ve kinda got a busy day tomorrow…” 

“Well I’ve just got a few emails to write so,” Cody meets Noel's eyes with a slight smile and Noel makes eye contact with him for just a second before looking away. “I’ll pick you up around lunchtime? and we can hang out downtown for a bit-”

“I don’t know man… Spock wanted to work on something, we might be in the studio for a while, ya know…” Noel shifts in his place, glancing down at his phone as if it could just teleport him out. 

“Then I’ll just meet you for dinner?” Cody still looks hopeful and Noel feels real bad about abandoning their plans but he needs space. And time to think and process and he can’t do that if Cody is looking at him like _that_. With fucking… puppy dog eyes. Fuck.

“I’m not sure, I’ll be really tired…” 

“Well, I’ll be ready whenever-” Noel can feel the anxiety building and he just wants to leave before he says something without thinking. He starts to back away a bit and does his best to avoid looking at Cody. 

“I don’t know man, I don’t know.”

“Just… let me know when you’re ready dude. I can come get you anytime or-”

“Ok, yeah sounds good I’ll see you later” Noel spits out before turning and walking towards the door. 

“Alright,” Cody sighs. It’s silent for a moment and Noel’s almost out of the room when he hears Cody call his name and he turns around to see that Cody has stood up. Their eyes meet for a moment and Cody collapses to the floor. 

“Cody! Fuck, dude are you ok?” Noel hurries over to Cody, kneeling down next to him.

“Yeah” Cody’s got one hand on his forehead and one on the floor. He does not look ok but Noel’s not going to argue. 

“What… happened?” Noel holds his hand out to help Cody up, and he accepts, grabbing Noel's hand tight and leaning on him as he stands up. He doesn’t look at Noel. Cody takes a few deep breaths and lets go of Noel’s hand. 

“Umm… I fell.”

Noel laughs. “I saw that.”

“No-” Cody shakes his head, “I just…” He takes another deep breath and laughs. “Noel, man, I think I just fell in love with you.” With this, he meets Noel’s gaze and once again, falls to the floor, this time on his face. 

“Cody!” Noel can’t believe this. He can’t process- _love_? He doesn’t- He just wanted time to- to think and Cody fucking says that!?

“Yep” Cody’s voice is muffled by the floor and he pulls himself up onto hands and knees. “That’s what it was. I fell in love with you.” He looks up at Noel’s shocked face and crumples sideways to the ground. 

“Cody what are you doing?! What the fuck man! Get up!” Noel grabs Cody by the shoulders at tries to pull him up. This is so far passed sugar gay it’s not funny. He just wants to go home and pretend this never fucking happened but its never gonna be the same now and he doesn’t want to fucking think about but Cody’s gone and fucking fallen- No, no, no he's not even gonna think about it. 

Cody glances at Noel as he’s being pulled up and immediately covers his eyes, sliding back down. “No, no, no, Noel, man-”

“Fucking cut it out, would you?” 

Cody manages to stand back up without looking at Noel and he takes a moment to breathe, bent over, hands on his knees, before standing up straight, pointedly not looking at Noel. “I can’t! It just fucking happened alright! I feel in love with you!” 

Noel takes a step back and stares very purposely _not_ at Cody. His best friend is in love with him. This happens all the time right? But Cody’s straight! And so is he! What the fuck does he do now! He feels the anxiety in his veins and he’s angry. How could Cody do this? Just fucking ruin their friendship like that?

“Cody, dude, I’m your best friend! And I don’t know what the fuck you’re doing or what the hell you’re going on about but- but what the fuck are you doing? Jesus Christ man, I’m your best friend!” God, he just wants some time to think about it, to figure out how he feels because it looks like Cody knows pretty well. 

“Yeah, I-” Cody starts to answer but Noel isn’t done. Cody needs to understand the impact of- of what he’s _done_! 

“Yeah! And you don’t mess with that shit. But you did, man! And…” Noel pauses to take a breath. He doesn’t really know what he’s saying or what he’s feeling but it’s something. And its Cody’s fault. 

“‘Cause, ya know what, you’re the only thing that fucking makes sense to me, that I know will make me happy when there’s nothing else to live for, and you fucked that up! Because you said that, and- and did that, and it doesn’t make _sense_! And it doesn’t feel _good_!

Noel stands there panting. And he realizes what he’s said, what it means that Cody is the only thing that makes sense but he can’t feel his face and he just wants to be alone and think. So he doesn’t back down. 

“You fucked up a good thing here! There’s a line when you’re friends, man, and you crossed it!” With that, he turns to look at Cody. And instead of seeing the side of his head and his stupid dyed hair, he meets Cody’s eyes. His big, sad, scared eyes. And Noel goes week in the knees and collapses at the same time he watches Cody fall. 

Noel just lays there for a moment, feeling his heart beat. What the fuck. Is he- is he... _in love_ with- He looks up at Cody’s face. Fuck, it's beautiful. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Cody looks like the best thing he’s ever seen, more beautiful than any old building or art piece or garden or anything. He is in love. Fuck.

And now Noel’s torn between being angry that they didn’t realize earlier and scared of what's happening. Fucking hell, he’s in love with his best friend. And that friend is in love with him. Cody turns to look at him again and their eyes meet. Noel gives him a small smile. 

They both look down at the ground as they try to stand back up, but once they’ve stood up their eyes meet and they fall again. Forward this time. Cody reaches out for Noel as they both scramble to their knees, but Noel can’t keep his eyes off Cody and he assumes Cody feels the same because they make eye contact and collapse on to the floor once more. 

Fuck. What are they gonna do? Because Noel is not content to just look at Cody from across the room and he’s pretty sure he’s gonna have bruises tomorrow but he has to get to him. It takes all his self-control to not look up as he pulls himself to his knees but he doesn’t look at Cody. He slowly crawls across the floor and Cody must have had the same idea because they bump into each other much sooner than he expected. Noel looks up and he meets Cody’s gaze. They’re nose to nose, and Noel can see every detail of Cody’s perfect face.

Noel crumples to the floor again. He feels Cody’s grabbing at his shoulder, fingers scrabbling at his shirt and he looks up, meeting Cody gaze. Cody’s eyes are wide, pupils dilated, mouth slightly open. Holy fuck. Noel squirms his way closer to Cody and grabs his arm tight enough to bruise and reaches up his other hand to cup Cody’s jaw before leaning in kiss him. Just as he does, Cody finally gets a good hold on Noel’s shoulder, jerking him forward, and smashing their faces together. 

It hurts a bit and it’s probably the worst kiss ever but it’s so full of love Noel doesn’t even care. Because now, the word makes sense. He’s got someone who cares about him, who already knows him so well and cares about him and loves him back. Fuck, he’s happy. And if the way Cody is smiling against his cheek is anything to go by, Cody’s real fucking happy too.

**Author's Note:**

> *blows kiss* <3  
> \---> im on tumblr @morelikesugarbi


End file.
